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Topic Review (Newest First)

09-02-2013 09:31 PM

AUvet14

Now: After a couple more weeks of growth plus some rearranging of some driftwood and some anubias plants. I've also tied some fissidens to several pieces of driftwood which should add a nice touch here in a couple months when it fills in. I think it's looking better and better each week. The best part... practically zero maintenance required

So... I guess since it's TECHNICALLY the same tank, I'll just update this journal thread. I got tired of the maintenance of the high light tank. It just didn't fit with my clinical schedule, so I invested a little bit of money in a variety of crypts and anubias. I took out all of the stems i had previously. I got a Current Satellite LED+ and started growing a low light tank.

02-18-2013 08:27 PM

hisxlency

lovely tank and layout.

02-18-2013 08:16 PM

tex627

Looks like a full recovery! Rotala rotundifolia or Rotala indica could make make good replacements for the Ludwigia.

Best of luck,
Justin

02-18-2013 07:43 PM

AUvet14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian_Cali77

Looks good but if you want something more narrow, perhaps some Rotala Magenta (macrandra narrow leaf) or Aponogeton crispus 'Red' would fit the bill?

Edit: i guess the latter is hard to come by in the US, so scratch that one.

I think rotala mageta might look too similar to the rotala colorata and rotala macrandra. I'd kinda like a different leaf shape. Aponogeton crispus 'red' is one I haven't even considered. It's not a stem though, is it? I'm kinda wanting something that will form a background bush.

I'm considering alternanthera reineckii but I've kept this one a few times before and the pink color is so intense I'm afraid it won't blend well with the other colored stems I have. I'm also still trying to get the hang of getting the rotala macrandra healthy. It seems when something does get out of whack, it declines in healthy pretty rapidly and takes a while to recover. I just need to make sure I'm staying on top of things and make sure I am always meeting its needs.

The tank looks like a complete mess right now. Lol. There's not really any organization to anything. Hopefully I'll change that before too much longer.

02-18-2013 07:30 PM

Brian_Cali77

Looks good but if you want something more narrow, perhaps some Rotala Magenta (macrandra narrow leaf) or Aponogeton crispus 'Red' would fit the bill?

Edit: i guess the latter is hard to come by in the US, so scratch that one.

02-18-2013 03:50 PM

AUvet14

It's been quite a while since I've updated this thread, so here it goes. I've pretty much been sitting back and watching some new plants grow so I can decide how I want to use them. Here's what I have now:

I'm thinking I might have to replace the ludwigia peruensis with something else. It is growing nice and healthy, but the leaves and resulting stem width are just too large for me to use the way I would like to in this tank. I'm open to other suggestions of what I could use in it's place.

01-26-2013 01:25 AM

AUvet14

Okay, here is it after grooming the glosso and HM. Things are still recovering a bit, so it's a bit of a random mess right now.

01-22-2013 08:43 PM

AUvet14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian_Cali77

Nice to see that the Excel worked to kill the BBA. Although I don't see many dutch (inspired) scapes using stones or DW, I think that piece you have there would look pretty nice and add a little more dimension IMO. I'm also a big fan of s. repens and p. helferi, so I applaud that decision to utilize that flora in your rescape. Perhaps more shades of colored plants would help instill that 'dutch' look? Something like ludwigia glandulosa, rotala colorata, (purple) cabomba pulcherrima, and/or limnophila aromatica?

I've got several colored plants in there. Limnophila aquatica (still recovering from no CO2 in my absence), rotala macrandra (all of it died, but I have more on the way), I do have ludwigia glandulosa, didiplis diandra can sometimes show some red/orange hues on the tops under the right conditions, and nassaea pedicillata 'golden' hopefully could add a nice yellow/orange shade to the tank. Not a big fan of the cabombas. Idk why, but I just don't like the look of them. Lol.

I haven't done the rescape yet, so right now I'm just kinda in limbo, growing plants until I have time to do a full rescape. I'll have to track down some staurugyne repens and pogostemon helferi too...

01-22-2013 08:08 PM

Brian_Cali77

Nice to see that the Excel worked to kill the BBA. Although I don't see many dutch (inspired) scapes using stones or DW, I think that piece you have there would look pretty nice and add a little more dimension IMO. I'm also a big fan of s. repens and p. helferi, so I applaud that decision to utilize that flora in your rescape. Perhaps more shades of colored plants would help instill that 'dutch' look? Something like ludwigia glandulosa, rotala colorata, (purple) cabomba pulcherrima, and/or limnophila aromatica?

01-22-2013 07:25 PM

AUvet14

Well, the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward a dutch or dutch-inspired rescape. Here's the tank after using an Excel overdose for around a week and a half to kill off the BBA.

I think it's done pretty well as far as killing the BBA. (Note: I have some new bunches of plants in there that I'm holding for a friend, so a lot of that will be leaving shortly)

As far as my rescape, here's my ideas so far: I'm removing the 5 pieces of malaysian driftwood that I've had in there. I may or may not use this piece of manzanita:

ludwigia peruensis (glandulosa)
nassaea pedicillata 'golden' (maybe, I'll have to see how I like it after it grows a bit)didiplis diandra
staurugyne repens (might be taking the place of some of the blyxa)pogostemon helferi (also might take the place of some blyxa)syngonanthus 'belem' (maybe in place of myrio mattogrossense)

I might even throw in a red tiger lotus for a little while.
Here's kinda what I have in mind as far as positions:

This is by no means a final plant list, as any given plant is subject to removal at my discretion. Lol.

Sorry for the novel of a post, but maybe some of you can manage to follow it and maybe share your thoughts/suggestions.

01-16-2013 06:51 PM

AUvet14

Update: I've been doing an overdose of Excel (2x recommended dose) daily for about a week now and the BBA appears to be dying off. It's all turning reddish pink. I am going to continue the Excel treatment for another week to see if it eventually completely dies and then falls off of the driftwood. So far it looks promising though.

Keep in mind that I have fixed the CO2 again so the levels are back to 30+ ppm. I now have 3 drop checkers throughout the aquarium (one is a DIY, one will be for my nano tank once I get it filled, and the other is the one that's been in this tank) and all 3 drop checkers show a lime green color consistently throughout the day. I've also adjusted my photoperiod and CO2 timers as follows (I'll double check this when I get back to my apartment):

I have also raised my light another 2 or 3 inches inside the canopy. I've maintained my normal fertilization routine.

01-08-2013 06:22 PM

AUvet14

Well now that the AlgaeFix has taken care of a lot of the hair algae, I think I'm going to try to salvage most of the plants. If I can figure out how to eliminate the BBA that has already established itself all over my driftwood, I might even keep the driftwood. If not, I might just do a rescape with a piece of manzanita or something.

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